


You are the one I can’t live without

by IronEyes



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, Steve gets captured, but what else is new, civil war happened, infinity war did not so far, pining!tony, tony believes that steve and bucky are together, tony is an idiot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-11-05 23:07:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17928131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IronEyes/pseuds/IronEyes
Summary: Steve gets captured and Tony believes it's his fault. So when the villain wants the Winter Soldier back and Bucky has to decide if Tony or Steve has to die, Tony knows how this will end, not matter how he feels for Bucky. After all Steve and Bucky are soulmates, right?





	You are the one I can’t live without

**Author's Note:**

> Hey :) 
> 
> And a new story again! This one was for a challenge on tumblr and had the prompt:
> 
> “You are the one I can’t live without. It would kill me to lose you.”

In the end it was Tony’s fault. It’s always his fault anyway.

“Still no sign of Steve?” Maria asks and Tony shakes his head. It was just another Hydra mission, nothing special, or so Tony thought. So, when Steve had asked him for some backup, Tony had laughed and declined.

And now? Now Rogers was gone for a little over a week.

“Clint and Natasha are looking everywhere, but the Hydra base Steve was trying to defeat is empty.” Sam says quietly and he looks at his lap. Tony swallows, it’s silly to refuse to work on a case with Steve. 

But after the so called Civil War, Tony didn’t feel like trusting Steve anymore.. Sure he welcomed the whole team back after some time. Especially since he still had the bad feeling, that out there in space, are worse monsters waiting for them.

Still, if he had known that Steve would be kidnapped, Tony would’ve gone with him without another thought. The team seems still angry with him. The glare alone from Wanda is enough, to make him shudder.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y. is still looking.” Tony says quietly, but nobody seems to listen to him anyway. Tony looks to his left, where Bucky is sitting. He looks almost sad, but Tony can also see that there is a lot of anger behind those beautiful eyes.

The last months, Tony had tried to be... well nicer. He and Natasha had apologized to each other and he really thought they were fine. Even Scott and Clint were forgiving and Tony was glad that they spoke normally to him, again.

Wanda was still angry with him and Tony didn’t feel like apologizing either. Steve and Sam were also still wary around him and Tony tried to avoid them most times. Sure he still had Rhodey and Pepper to keep him company, but in the end, it doesn’t feel like it’s the same. 

Only Bucky…

Their relationship changed a lot. After freezing Bucky in Wakanda, T’Challa had his little sister working on him. It took a few months, but when Bucky walked through Tony’s Tower the first time, Tony knew he was a different man. There was no winter soldier anymore.

“I declare the meeting closed.” Sam says angrily and before someone can answer him, he gets up and kicks the door close behind him. Tony tries not to shrink even more into his seat. 

“I’ll see if I can ask Hank for some help.” Scott mutters quietly, when he gets up and leaves with Wanda as well. They also seem pretty close the last days. 

“Hey Buck…” Tony starts and Bucky actually looks at him. He seems tired and Tony’s heart clenches at the sight.

“What?” Bucky asks and Tony knows it’s the stress and his worry for Steve. He knows, that Bucky doesn't hate him. They do have a pretty good relationship since he came back and Tony... loves this. Too much actually.

“Do you wanna... I mean... do you wanna do something later?” Tony asks nervously, because he had missed Bucky the last days. Normally Bucky is always with him in the workshop, but now he searches for Steve, of course. 

“What do you mean?” Bucky asks, but his voice sounds rough. Tony swallows dryly and then makes an awkward half shrug. Bucky raises his eyebrows at that, but doesn’t say anything.

“I just thought if you need a break... we could go and have lunch together?” Tony says very quietly and he looks at his fingers, when he says it. Normally Tony loves to talk in front of people. He could do it for days without being tired.

Only in front of people, he... loves, he babbles way too much, or can’t even get one sentence out straight.

“No thanks, I can’t take a break from searching for Steve.” Bucky says and he is already turning around. Tony nods at himself. Yeah. That was really rude of him, he shouldn’t have said that in the first place.

It’s just that Tony misses Bucky. He misses his laugh and his cocky attitude. He misses their shared jokes and especially his hugs. Tony had really thought over the last weeks they became really good friends and maybe one day they would be more.

Seems like he fucked that up spectacularly. Like always.

 

*

 

It’s almost midnight and Tony is still in his workshop when F.R.I.D.A.Y’s alert echos through the room. Tony looks up and rubs over his eyes. He can’t really remember when he slept the last time. Normally Bucky forces him to go to sleep or eat.

“What is happening?” Tony asks a bit bewildered and he rubs the motor oil he was working with, all over his face and white shirt.

“I found Captain Rogers, Sir.” F.R.I.D.A.Y announces and Tony sits up straighter. What? Is he dreaming? 

“Where?” Tony asks and he is already out of his chair. He opens up new codes and F.R.I.D.A.Y. shows him a map. Steve is just a few miles away from New York. There seems nothing special about the little town he is in, but Tony wouldn’t question his Al. 

“Okay perfect. Fri? I need the nicest suit ready in like 10? Just wanna check on something.” Tony babbles and opens his workshop door. He runs up the stairs and makes it to the living room in record time.

He stops at the door.

“It’s okay Bucky. Everyone needs a break and I’m sure we will find him.” Sam says and he puts an arm around Bucky. Tony’s blood runs cold. His teammates are all sitting there, watching a movie. 

Everyone but him.

“It’s just...god Steve means so much to me. I don’t know what to do without him.” Bucky answers and Sam nods. Tony takes a few steps back and is glad, when nobody notices him. 

Normally he shouldn't be surprised. He knew it. Bucky and Steve were soulmates from the beginning. Just because Bucky spent a lot of time with him, it surely meant nothing. How could Tony be this stupid and actually believe... he had a chance with him?

Even though Tony is still angry with him, he knows that Steve is a good guy. He would protect Bucky till death and would care for him, like nobody else. Bucky is lucky to have Steve and Steve...well he is the luckiest guy in the world.

“Fri?” Tony asks, when he walks down the stairs. 

She doesn’t answer, but as soon as Tony is at the big entrance hall, there is a suit waiting for him. Mark 74. Oh he likes this one. Tony nods at himself and the suit builds himself around his body. He sighs. Much better.

Hopefully this would be a short fight.

*

 

“Tony?” 

Tony groans quietly and tries to turn away from that voice. He feels dizzy and is afraid he has to puke, when he moves again. 

“Tony, can you hear me?” 

There is someone shaking his shoulder and Tony gags. Oh yeah seems like someone got him good. His head is nearly bursting.

“W-what?” Tony coughs and before he can talk himself out of it, he sits up in one go. He gags again, but the feeling stops and he finally opens his eyes. Just to see nothing. Great. Darkness, his best friend.

“Tony. Finally I really thought they killed you.” Tony blinks and this time he understands, that it’s Steve talking to him. Steve! Tony takes a deep breath. Thank god, he is alive.

“Seems like they tried.” Tony says quietly and he mentally checks his body for other injuries. His right ankle? Definitely broken. His right shoulder feels bad too, but at least it’s not broken. Hopefully just badly bruised. His head is still swimming and his right side doesn’t feel so good either.

Fuck. What happened?

“What are you doing here? Where is the rest?” Steve asks and Tony is glad that he can’t really see his face in the darkness. Small miracles, he would take them.

“Eh… kinda flew out on my own.” Tony says and when he tries to stand up, he hisses in pain. Okay so his right ankle is not only broken, but they shackled it as well. _Great._

The next minutes Tony tries to will his unconsciousness back, because Steve holds a whole speech for him about being reckless and stupid. Sadly he stays awake and the pain in his ankle throbs even more. 

Just as Tony wants to snap at Steve, the door opens and Tony is temporary blinded when someone focuses a flashlight at him.

“They are awake.” The guy with the flashlight says and Tony grunts. Captain Obvious meet Captain America. 

Soon enough there are a dozen guys with black masks over their faces and they take Steve and him in another room. This room is completely white, except for two black chairs and a table in the middle of it.

Torture? Tony is so not in the mood for that.

“Have a seat gentleman.” One of the guys says and Tony clenches his teeth when he gets shoved onto the chair. His ankle feels even more swollen, but Tony is afraid to look at it in the light.

“Captain America and Iron Man. How lovely.” 

Tony squints at the guy who stands in front of them. He is wearing a mask as well, but it’s splattered with blood. _Great._

“What do you want from us?” Steve asks and he tries to get out of his chains. Tony is surprised that they even managed to catch Steve, but seems like they found a way to weaken him, too. 

Tony doesn’t even remember how they got him. He flew towards the little house F.R.I.D.A.Y. pointed out and the next thing he knows, he is in that cell with Steve. Seems like he underestimated this device.

“From you? Nothing. You were the one who found us. But we thought while you were here, we could try a few things.” The guy says and even rubs his hands. They are covered in black gloves. Tony sighs.

“I hate super villain speeches.” He mutters and one of the guards smacks him against the head. Tony groans, when his head hits the table loudly. 

_Ow._

“Listen to Agent Stripe.” Some Guard says and Tony huffs. Stupid name.

“What did you do to me? I can’t even get myself free from those chains.” Steve grunts angrily and at that Tony looks up again. Seems like they really weakened him somehow. Tony frowns. His escape possibilities just sunk to under 40%.

“We took your serum out of you.” The guy says calmly and then he walks over to the other guards. Tony frowns, when he picks up a camera and places it neatly on the table. Tony can hear him chuckling behind his mask.

“Let’s say we need it for somebody else. The Winter Soldier is still your friend right? Say hi. He sees and hears you now.” The guy says and Tony glares at him. 

“Why are you doing this?!” Tony asks angrily and he tries not to shudder at the thought that Bucky can see him like this. beaten up and trapped.

“We want him to take in the serum again. We even have the nice words he needs to hear.” Stripe says and Tony wants to laugh at him. Seems like someone didn’t get the memo here. The words wouldn’t set Bucky back, but Tony is still worried that they actually seemed to get the serum out of Steve.

“Bucky. Listen, whatever this asshole says. Don’t come here!” Steve says angrily and Stripe laughs long and ugly. 

“Agent Barnes I’ll say this only once. If you aren’t willing to meet up with us, we have to kill your friends.” Stripe takes a step forwards and strokes over Tony’s bloody cheek. Tony tries to get away from his touch, but Stripe kicks against his ankle. The world turns black for a second.

“Let Steve go.” Tony grunts and Stripe forces Tony to look at him.

“What?” He asks and Tony imagines that he is still grinning. Tony stays silent this time, because if he gets kicked another time, he would for sure blackout completely again.

“Okay fair deal, Barnes. If you come here in the next two hours, you can keep one friend and I only kill the other. Does that sound good?” Stripe says and he goes back to the camera. Before he can stop the video, Tony holds up a hand as far as he can with the chains. 

“Buck listen to me. It’s okay. Let them kill me.” Tony says and he hopes he looks convincing. He doesn’t feel very good and he can’t focus on the camera, thanks to his headache.

“Tony, what? No!” Steve says, but Tony shakes his head.

“Buck I mean it, do you hear me?” Tony says louder, but Steve is having none of it. Tony sighs, if Bucky could save Steve and the words would fail on him, Stephen or someone would for sure be able to inject the serum back into Steve. 

“Why are you doing this Tony?” Steve sounds almost hysterical now. Tony shakes his head, he isn’t even aware that the camera is still rolling on them.

“You are his best friend and... you matter to him. I’m just... I’m just Tony.” He whispers and looks down. He doesn’t want Steve to see how afraid he is of dying, but without any weapons for him and Steve without his serum, he doesn't think he has a chance. 

He doesn’t want to die, but Steve is Bucky’s soulmate. He wouldn’t make him choose between them in that way. It’s his decision and Bucky wouldn’t need to feel bad about it.

“That is not true!” Steve says again, but Tony isn’t even listening.

“I’m sorry Bucky. I love you. I really do.”

 

*

 

Tony isn’t sure how late it is. He doesn’t even know if it’s still day, or already night. This time they brought him to a cell without Steve. He curls into himself.

“It’s better like this.” Tony mutters and he closes his eyes, even though it doesn’t really matter in the darkness. He tries to imagine Bucky and Steve being happy. Sure F.R.I.D.A.Y. should’ve alarmed everyone by now... but still if they come too late. Tony doesn’t want to see how Bucky loses his soulmate.

A screeching noise makes Tony sit up again.

He even holds his breath, when somebody rattles at the door. They are coming for him. The door opens loudly and Tony looks hastily away. 

“Stark.”

Those aren’t the bad guys, it’s Bucky. Tony gasps, when he looks over to the door and his thoughts are confirmed. There is Bucky standing in the door, looking so furious, that Tony makes himself a bit smaller.

Fuck. What if they found a way to get the Winter Soldier back? Will it... will it be Bucky, who killed him? Tony sniffs once. 

“B-Bucky.” He says shakily and at this Bucky’s tense expression softens. He is walking over towards Tony and kneels down. Tony’s eyes widen, when he sees the tiny smile. No. That means...Steve is…

“Come here.” Bucky whispers quietly and he goes for a hug, but Tony is squirming free and shakes his head.

“No! You’re in the wrong room. You need to find Steve! You can’t…” Tony starts to cry without his permission, but he can’t stop. This isn’t fair. He doesn’t want to be blamed for destroying Bucky’s life and killing Steve.

“Hey Tony. It’s okay. I’m here. We’re getting you free. Steve’s okay. We got him out too and Stephen said he would look into getting him back to full power.” Bucky mumbles and this time Tony accepts the hug. 

Bucky carefully opens his chains, while Tony just cries into his neck. Steve is saved and they even came to save him too. He sobs loudly. He doesn’t need to die. 

 

*

 

When Tony wakes up again, he is in a hospital. He slowly blinks awake and the first thing he sees, is the big cast on his leg. He sighs.

“Took you long enough.”

Tony looks to his right, where a tiny chair is right next to his bed. Bucky sounds angry still, but he is smiling as well.

“What are you doing here?” Tony asks and he tries to sit up a bit. Bucky hastily helps him and straightens the pillow behind Tony before he sits down on the edge of the bed.

“Looking after you, since apparently you don’t even do that for yourself.” Bucky answers, but he winks at Tony, so maybe he isn’t that angry.

“How is Steve?” Tony asks and he jerks a bit, when Bucky takes his hand into his and carefully strokes with his thumb over it.

“Fine. They couldn’t put the serum back in, but apparently Hydra didn’t take it completely from Steve and it restored on his own.” Bucky answers and Tony relaxes at that. Steve is alive and well. 

“Good.” Tony whispers and Bucky nods.

“So when will we talk about what happened back in the room with Steve, where they filmed you?” Bucky says and Tony sighs. Somehow he had hoped Bucky would just ignore that. 

“Is there something we need to talk about?” Tony asks and he tries to sound annoyed, but it comes out mostly sad and tired. Bucky smiles sadly and then uses his free hand to stroke Tony’s cheek. It’s the metal one and it feels cool against his skin, but Tony leans into the touch anyway.

“I think so, Tony, what makes you think I would let you die?” Bucky says calmly and Tony shrugs. He knows exactly why he hates to talk about his feelings.

“Well it was Steve, or me.” Tony says and he wants to turn away from Bucky, but at the same time he craves these little touches way too much.

“First of all, i would never leave one of you two behind. We all would never leave anyone behind. Second of all... who says that Steve is my fave, hm?” Bucky grins and Tony knows he’s joking, but he doesn’t really understand it.

“You...what? You said you wouldn’t know what to do without him.” Tony says and this time Bucky is the one frowning.

“Not that it isn’t true, but when did you hear me say that?” Bucky asks and Tony wants to facepalm. He overheard Bucky saying it when they all watched the damn movie, the night Tony left to save Steve.

“Uhm... you said it to Sam. On your movie night, I wasn’t invited, I know.” Tony says and he sounds more sad than he actually intended, sniffy or at least disappointed. Bucky smiles a bit sadly.

“You were invited, we asked F.R.I.D.A.Y. But now i understand why you would run off like this all on your own. Especially after you asked me to take a break with you a few hours before that.” Bucky says and Tony shrugs awkwardly. 

He doesn’t think that Bucky is lying to him and it wouldn’t be the first time F.R.I.D.A.Y. passed a message along and Tony ignored it, buried under all his work. 

“It doesn’t matter, does it? In the end I was right? I know that you don’t really hate me, even though it’s my fault that Steve got captured in the first place and he is your soulmate but..” Tony babbles and the last words get lost when Bucky holds his free hand over his mouth.

“Slow down. It is not your fault that Steve got captured. Why would you think that?” Bucky asks and he perks one eyebrow up. Tony shrinks under his gaze.

“Well he asked me to come along, but I declined.” Tony answers and Bucky’s grip on his hand is a bit more tight.

“He asked me as well, but I wanted to stay in the tower with you. And even if he would only ask you, it’s still not your fault, when the idiot gets hurt.” Bucky says and he is grinning. Tony smiles a bit too, because even though Bucky called Steve an idiot, he clearly hears how fond Bucky talks about him.

And _wait._

“What?”

“Close your mouth, doll. You heard me right.” Bucky says easily and puts his hand under Tony’s chin. Tony swallows dryly. 

“What about…” Tony starts again, but Bucky just shushes him and before Tony knows it, Bucky sits extremely close to him and his smirk, is something Tony would have to think about a lot.

“Steve is my best friend. That’s it.” Bucky says quietly and Tony nods awkwardly.

Bucky just watches him for a moment and Tony sees how his gaze goes down to his lips. Tony licks them unconsciously. Bucky grins a bit more and then he leans over him and Tony dies a hundred times when Bucky kisses him.

He hopes his whine goes unnoticed when Bucky opens his mouth, but the way Bucky laughs against him, he heard it. Tony doesn’t care. He puts his arms around Bucky’s neck and tries to get even closer to him. Bucky gasps quietly, when he sits nearly on top of Tony.

“Even better than my dreams.” Bucky whispers, when they break the kiss and before Tony can do more than take a deep breath, Bucky is already kissing him again. Tony doesn’t think about complaining even for a second.

“I still think I don’t understand.” Tony mutters when Bucky carefully kisses his cheeks and then his neck. He can’t really think at all, but even though the kisses don’t make any sense, Tony would never trade them.

“For a genius you are a real idiot. Yeah, okay, I wouldn’t know what to do without Steve, but you are the one I can’t live without. It would kill me to lose you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](https://tonystarkjr.tumblr.com)


End file.
